Texas man found guilty of sexually assaulting stranger while on flight to Salt Lake City

SALT LAKE CITY (ABC4) — A man from Frisco, TX, has been found guilty of sexually assaulting a woman while on a flight to Salt Lake City, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Robert “Bobby” Sutherland MacLean, 59, was federally indicted on April 18, 2023. Today, he was convicted of abusive sexual contact while in an aircraft in the United States.

According to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office (USAO) District of Utah, MacLean was seated next to a female passenger on a commercial flight from Chicago to Salt Lake City on March 1, 2022. The two were seated in the first-class cabin on the late-night flight to Utah.

During the flight, MacLean made “calculated and sexually laced statements” to the female victim, who was a complete stranger to him. The press release states that he sexually assaulted her multiple times during the flight.

“Mr. MacLean unlawfully and illegally imposed his will upon another person— sexually assaulting her over and over again on that late-night flight,” prosecuting attorney Bryan N. Reeves of the U.S. Attorney’s Office is quoted in the press release.

MacLean’s charge was brought to trial, and a federal jury in Salt Lake City returned a guilty verdict against the Texas man. His sentencing is set for October 1, 2025, at the Orrin G. Hatch U.S. District Courthouse in Salt Lake City. Senior U.S. District Court Judge Dale A. Kimball will determine his sentence.

According to the press release from the USAO, this case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Salt Lake City Field Office, and they were assisted by the Salt Lake City Police Department.